This is a story about a dinosaur - and an idea that has been around for many years, which is now on its journey back from the brink of extinction. This is a story that you can be part of, helping to write the chapters that are still to come.
The idea? To build a dinosaur - not any old dinosaur mind you, but a Tyrannosaurus Rex - that amazing creature that has become so much part of our culture and in many ways our history. We have been fascinated by T Rex since the first one was dug up by Barnum Brown back in 1902, and that fascination never seems to wane. Then there was Jurassic Park which hit the screens in 1993 where a very grumpy T Rex made mince-meat of everything and everyone, and then came back to save us in Jurassic World.
Of course there have been other T rex outings before that, but it was thanks to Steven Spielberg and the new CGI technologies that really brought these animals to life on the big screen.
Which brings us back to Marmaduke and the making of a Tyrannosaurus rex. It was a no-brainer - if we were to build a dinosaur, it had to be a T Rex.
Click to play
Check out the video on how we built Marmaduke the T rex
The Decision was Made
To build an iconic dinosaur - and only a T Rex would do
With the big decision made, it was time to get to work. I found an image of a T rex with the help of Google, and importing that into CAD I drew round the pic and got the following image. Little did I know what I was in for - at the time it all looked straight forward - transfer the image onto a sheet of board, cut it out, flesh it out, and voila, the job would be done. Famous last words.
Apologies for the poor quality of this image - I seem to have lost the original drawing on my travels, so I can only find this low-quality scan to share with you.
Then on to the spine. This I cut out out of a pine plank, thinking that it would be strong enough, but I should have known better. Some images of the spine, sacrum and pubic bone are shown below.
Building the Head
Three attempts, two in the landfill to puzzle palaeontologists for years to come.
A small model to start off with, and then a larger version, which didn't work out - Marmaduke looked like Snoopy and so that head went into the landfill site. And so I built another. But this is not easy work - every picture of a T Rex head seemed different, and of course everyone takes pictures of the business end of the beast, so to get good images of the back of the skull was hard work. A bit of artistic licence came into play. But the end result turned out quite well. There are months between the start and end of the head project.
Building the Neck
Working out intricate and complex shapes
Well, that dinosaur got completed and lived for a while in my office, and went on outings to the Royal Show and the Hilton Arts Festival where he wowed the crowds. But he didn't travel well, and I wasn't happy with some of my interpretations of the bones - the osteology to use a big word. Then I found a paper from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 7, documenting the bones of Sue, the most complete T Rex ever found. Every bone was described and photographed - front side, back side, top side, bottom side, left side, right side. I had hit pay dirt, for now I could see what was going on, rather than guessing from a pile of photographs, mostly just general shots of T Rex's in various museums.
So another big decision was made - to rebuild Marmaduke, based on the wonderful photographs of Sue's bones. So Marmaduke is essentially a replica of the iconic dinosaur Sue, which resides in the Field Museum in Chicago.
Sue the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. Marmaduke is a half scale replica of this wonderful beast.
Building the Presacral Vertebrae
The central structure of the animal
Making the Tail
A long and difficult story
Making the Sacrum
The sacrum, or pelvis, supports the entire animal
Cutting the Ribs
The ribs give the animal its final, complete shape
Building the DinoZone
Steel, concrete, wood and a great deal of time got the dinosaur park done
It was a fun and exciting project, which is not over yet by any means as we add additional attractions to keep you educated and entertained. Go check out our Instagram posts where much of the build has been documented.
We do the heavy digging
The DinoZone team is dedicated to unearthing new dinosaur finds, new exhibitions and new stories on dinosaurs. When there is a new dinosaur discovery taking place nearly every week, it is hard to keep up with the new developments. So we do the heavy digging so that you can find everything you need about dinosaurs here at the Dinozone.
We look forward to welcoming you on our very special dig.
And rescue you in your hour of need
IF YOUR KIDS ARE DINOSAUR NUTS, AND THE HOLIDAYS ARE LONG AND EXHAUSTING, THEN THE DINOZone may be your lifeline to sanity, peace, and the sure route to attaining Supermom status. What youngster is not going to be happy to find all of their favourite dinosaurs, paleontologists and museums in one place?
So why not sign up and enjoy all the resources available to you at the DinoZone. Or at the very least download our free colouring book by clicking on the button.
What Others are Saying
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Tom loves the dinosaur skeleton and his piece of mica.
Mary V
Mother
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Congratulations on the first edition of your Dino Mag. My girls will be so excited to read all about dinos.
Revisha S
Mother
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Thoroughly enjoyed meeting you. Will keep in touch so that you can visit our school.
Lynette F
Junior School Teacher
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My son has been coloring in his dinosaurs at every opportunity he has had since Sunday. Thank you for getting the opportunity to check out your amazing display.
Chris M
Father
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She loved the colouring in pages and will love this magazine just as much.
Judy
Grandmother
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Thank you so much - Jacques is going to love this. We will show him all the wonderful images on your website and on the Facebook page.
Meryke B
Mother
MY NAME IS
Dinoman
I have been doing this geology thing for nearly thirty years, and during that time my travels have taken me to some amazing places, which include the volcanoes of Indonesia, the San Andreas Fault in California, the high Himalayas, the East African Great Rift Valley and the vastness of the Makgadigadi Pans in Southern Africa.
I have visited museums in the USA, England, Europe and Southern Africa and plan to visit many more, to bring you the low-down on what is happening in the world of dinosaurs.
